- Date
- February 15, 1998, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bridger, MT
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N947MGPiper PA-11
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980215001289A
- Case key
- 42757
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during a bounced landing recovery.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot stated that he bounced during landing, so he decided to go around and try again. He said he pushed the carburetor heat in and gave the engine full throttle, but the airplane 'didn't want to fly. The left wing started to stall and put me into a left turn. I corrected and the right wing stalled, and I veered off to the right. I bounced across the runway and didn't get the plane corrected before the leading edge of my right wing hit the top strand of a barbed wire fence.' When the wing struck the wire, the airplane rotated 180 degrees and landed in a rubble pile. Winds were calm at the time.
Factual narrative
On February 15, 1998, about 1230 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-11, N947MG, sustained substantial damage after the pilot lost control of the airplane during the first of a planned series of stop-and-go landings on runway 16 at Bridger, Montana. The student pilot sustained minor injuries. No flight plan was filed for the flight, which was conducted, in visual meteorological conditions. There was no report of an ELT actuating.
The student pilot stated that he bounced during landing, so he decided to go around and try again. He said he pushed the carburetor heat in and gave the engine full throttle, but the airplane "didn't want to fly. The left wing started to stall and put me into a left turn. I corrected and the right wing stalled, and I veered off to the right. I bounced across the runway and didn't get the plane corrected before the leading edge of my right wing hit the top strand of a barbed wire fence." When the wing struck the wire, the airplane rotated 180 degrees and landed in a rubble pile. Winds were calm at the time. FAA inspectors found no evidence of preexisting mechanical discrepancies that could have led to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N947MG
- Reported as
- Piper PA-11
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- ED-002
- Airframe hours
- 206
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1B, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ty L. Schwend
- Registered owner
- Lonnie Sanford
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 24, 1997 · 17 hours before
- Airport
- 6S1 · Bridger Municipal, runway 16, 3,400 × 42 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 39 total · 17 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.